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Tag Archives: leftovers

Chicken stock is the key to many recipes, and you’re probably buying loads of the canned stuff from the grocery store. I was, too, until I started making it myself. It only took one batch of homemade stock to make me a convert. I never went back to store-bought because the flavor, texture and price are so much better when it is homemade. You can do it, too, and it’s easier than you think.

In my house, we roast a whole chicken almost every week. We have some of it that night and use the leftovers in everything from tacos to soups throughout the week.

Previously, the carcass got tossed in the trash. One day, I decided to toss the scraps into my slow cooker with some leftover vegetables, and I realized making chicken stock was one of the easiest and most convenient things I’d ever made. And when it was done? It was delicious!

Since I’ve been at this for a few years, I developed a system that works well for my family. Anytime we use carrots, celery, onions or herbs, we save the scraps (the peels, the stems, the leaves, etc) in a bag in the freezer. We do the same with the carcass after roasting a chicken. When the bags fill up, we pull out the slow cooker and make beautiful homemade stock.

Once the stock is made, I store it in 2-cup increments in freezer bags, since they stack well or can be tucked into unused corners between the ice cream and the frozen berries. If I know I’ll be using the stock within the next week, I store it in mason jars in the refrigerator*. I label the type of stock and the quantity, and now flavorful homemade chicken stock is always there when I need it.

The star of the Christmas dinner table varies depending on geographic location. When I spent the holidays with a friend from New York, lamb was served as the centerpiece. When I went to visit a friend from North Carolina, the star was a big, beautiful baked ham. Because Hamilton Beach headquarters resides in the South, we decided to share our favorite baked ham recipe. This is a holiday favorite sure to please everyone at your table, no matter on which side of the Mason-Dixon line you reside.

Baked Hams are best bought extra-large because there are so many uses for the leftovers. They can be reheated later or used at room temperature for ham biscuits (especially delicious for breakfast), ham and cheese sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches made with the Breakfast Sandwich Maker, or as the classic ham and eggs breakfast. The bone can be saved for soup or stock, or frozen to be used at a later time. Leave a comment and tell us your favorite way to use leftover ham.

Baked Ham Honey Glaze

SERVES: 15

2013-12-23 14:17:37

Bake your holiday ham in a Hamilton Beach Roaster Oven and create extra room in your main oven for the sides and accompaniments.

Ingredients

15 pound fully cooked smoked ham

2 cups water

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup brown sugar, packed

Whole cloves

Instructions

Remove rack from roaster oven. Pour 2 cups of water into the insert pan, put the roaster cover on and preheat roaster oven to 325°F.

Trim thick part of fat off of ham down to 1/4-inch. Score remaining layer of fat into diamond design; this will help hold the glaze. Insert whole cloves into each diamond.

Place ham on rack then place in roaster and cover. Bake for 1 hour.

While ham is cooking, combine remaining ingredients to make glaze.

Remove cover and spoon half of glaze over ham. Replace cover and bake 1 more hour.

Remove cover and spoon remaining glaze over ham. Replace cover. Bake for 10 minutes to set glaze. Internal temperature of ham should be at least 140°F.

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and you’re staring down the leftover pounds of turkey meat from yesterday’s feast. You’re wondering how many sandwiches you can eat before the anguished thought of one more cold turkey on wheat bread atrocity sends you into a downward leftovers spiral. Don’t worry; we’re here to help!

Spice up your leftovers by skipping the boring sandwiches and try using them in a bold and flavorful soup that will have your entire family asking for seconds. Your leftovers will be gone in a flash, and you’ll wonder if you should’ve bought a larger turkey after all.

Serve the soup with avocado slices, lime wedges, cilantro or scallions and plenty of tortilla chips. Add sour cream to balance out the spiciness of the soup, and adjust the spices to taste while cooking.

The soup is light enough to be the perfect respite after yesterday’s big meal, but hearty enough to satisfy the biggest appetites. Plus, making this soup in the slow cooker means you don’t have to dirty extra dishes after you just put them away from the Thanksgiving festivities.

This week, we’ve shown you two easy ways to cook a whole chicken. If you didn’t eat that whole chicken in one night, you probably have some leftovers and need some ideas to spice them up. Here are two easy dishes, based on what we like to do with our own leftovers at home. The first is a simple curried chicken salad that won over the “no-grapes-in-my-chicken-salad-please” crowd with it’s fresh, vibrant flavors and unique Indian twist. The second is a sandwich my dad used to make with chicken and turkey leftovers. It’s very basic, but surprisingly delicious.

To make the leftover chicken sandwich, use two pieces of bread, your leftover cooked chicken or turkey, lettuce, mayonnaise and salt and pepper. Toasting the bread is optional, but adds a nice texture to the sandwich. Spread both pieces of bread with mayo and add the lettuce. Top with your leftover chicken (or turkey) and add salt and pepper to taste. Close the sandwich, lift to mouth, bite and enjoy!